


A look into the deepwods

by Numerion



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-08-14 07:55:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16488671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Numerion/pseuds/Numerion





	1. A trade with the elves

He was scared. The damned wolves were howling again. His arm stopped bleeding but it throbbed against the crude bandages he made from strips of clothes.  
He tried not to think about whose clothes those were. Only focus on the way. One foot in front of the other.  
He stumbled. As he fell he caught a glimpse back. A lone wolf followed him. For a second there was hope.  
And the next it was gone, the other wolves circled around. He saw them in the fog between the trees.  
They knew he was armed.  
They were waiting.  
Frustrated, he gripped the sword handle in his healthy hand and charged the closest wolf, the one behind him.  
As if laughing at him, the dog jumped back a few feet and then again when another swing came.  
He tried maybe twenty times, but he couldn't get a hit in.  
He was growing exhausted. Just as the wolves wanted he realized.  
He sat down with his back to a tree and kept the sword in front of him. The wolves closed in, but they didn't rush. They knew he was still dangerous, but they would get him.  
His sword dropped. Wolf eyes glistered in the late winter fog. A growl among them revealed they are very hungry.  
A figure dropped in between them a stone blade flashed in nimble hands. Quick spin and two of the wolves leapt away to safety. More figures dropped from the trees. To him it seemed hard to say if they fell or lunged.  
As quickly as it began it was gone. The wolves were gone. Scampering away for different prey. 

He knew what they were. He heard stories as a little boy, even seen them once or twice. Elves of the deep woods. Natives, primitives, cannibals. Those are all the things he heard of them. He believed all.  
One of them made a sound, what he would describe as a fox coughing. A swift look across their faces revealed it was a laugh.  
They were facing him. They eyed his sword.  
Several exchanged looks and not a single word. The stories said the devil took their tongues, that's why they couldn't speak.  
A tall female with long hazel hair came to him and stepped over his weapon. He backed up, but she grabbed him gently by the wounded arm. A wolf bit him earlier. Before everybody was dead and his only option was running.  
He shrieked when she took out a blade of her own, but her response was only a wide amused smile. He settled down when he realized she is not going to harm him. Not then anyways.  
The blade was made of sharpened flint and a piece of wood.  
She cut through his cloth bandages with little struggle. She eyed his wound and got up. She walked off to another one who was carrying a big bag, which looked like it was stitched from several animal insides. While she was digging in it, the rest of the group kept watch. They silently stalked through the surrounding forest, stopping to gaze into the cold. As if they could see further than a few steps, he thought.  
But maybe, because they were obviously way more animalistic, maybe they could see something he could not.  
She approached again holding several things. Dropping them off at his feet, she begun to work. She sprinkled some yellow dust along his wound, then took a black root and rubbed it hard against the bleeding flesh. He screamed. The answer to that were more chuckles from the hunting party.  
Next came a bundle of leaves, carefully wrapped by a vine. She unwrapped them and one by one started pressing them like bindings against his arm. To his surprise they stuck nicely. When the wound was fully wrapped, she made sure she didn't miss any. Then took the last piece of the ingredients, red berries of some kind, unknown to him and pushed them against his lips. He refused them. Another cheeky smile dashed wide and she took one of the berries and ate it herself. He sighed and ate them one by one. They tasted horribly. Sour with a tail of puke. Moments later he felt like vomiting himself. He pushed her away and bent over, retching, but not hurling. Nothing would come. For minutes he spent in agonizing tension, but nothing came out.  
They were waiting for him still. She was too.  
The pains finally stopped and he sat back against the tree. She eyed him patiently. He looked around and none of the others were giving him any attention, but not going away either.  
"Why did you save me?" he finally asked, knowing it was futile. They didn't speak his language. They didn't speak any language.  
But she did. "You... kill Big white...?" she asked in response.

He did. They did. It took a dozen men and three of them fell during the fight. But they killed the monster that's been terrorizing nearby villages. Reports always talked about something between a bear and a hill. It would demolish entire houses before eating all the people it could catch.  
He nodded "We did." He also knew that the stench of the monster was what attracted the wolves. But they wouldn't eat it. The beast was corrupted. So instead the wolves went for them in their weak moment.  
She smiled again "Big white...sent...kill us" she staggered out explaining. He could see clearly that she wasn't just having problems with words, but using her mouth to speak entirely. He regarded her sentence. He didn't know enough about the monster or these elves to know for sure. But looking around, he knew they would have even worse chances against it. When they slayed it, they used swords of iron, spears and javelins. They wouldn't even harm it with daggers made of stone.  
"How do you know to speak?" he asked her. She clearly understood what he was saying fully.  
She frowned "People....in cold...time...we trade" she said and pointed at the pieces of fur around her neck. Clearly they were worse quality than he had. Likely they were made by villagers in the hills from whatever scraps the elves brought them. And they never reported them. He laughed. Why would they.  
He sit up and reached between his back and the brigantine he was wearing. He pulled out a properly cared for bear fur.  
"I trade this for my life." he said and handed her the fur.  
Reluctantly, but understandingly she took the fur in between her fingers and rubbed it. Her eyes quickly glittered, seeing the higher quality of the work. For a moment she looked like she will give it back, but the stare he has been giving her was clear. No give backs.  
She nodded. Then pointed across the forest into a direction. Due to the fog, he had no idea which way she was pointing. "You...people...bring" she said determined and got up. Sparing no second look to him she started walking the way she pointed. Two of the others went ahead. The rest stayed. Waiting.  
He got the hint and got up. Quickly he hopped into step behind them. The rest wasn't there when he looked over his shoulder. He didn't hear them leave.  
His name was Aatami.


	2. The Shades

He traveled for a few days with the elves. They used different paths than he was used to and he was slowing them down. Frequently they would walk through thick bushes in matter of seconds while he took several minutes getting through them.  
But they waited for him.   
Several of them would disappear into the woods and return a while later. Sometimes carrying berries, handfuls of leaves or roots. Clearly they were more of scavengers than hunters. But winter was coming. He didn't know where they got the berries from, because as far as his eyes could see, the plants were all barren and prepared for winter.   
The land looked paler. When they departed on the hunt two weeks ago, autumn was in full bloom. Now the trees were without leaves and there was fog coming from his mouth with every breath. The ground was still soft, but leaves on it were already crunching as they were getting more and more rigid. Winter would come fast this year.

A hand grabbed his shoulder from the back. He turned around quickly and was ready to yell, but he saw the elven woman with a hand over her mouth. She pointed sideways. He followed her sign and noticed an elven man, one of the hunters, pushed against a tree with four raised fingers.  
Aatami pushed hid himself near the closest tree in the same direction as the hunter. He looked around and realized that the woman is gone. Or hidden. He paid it no attention, it was already becoming a major theme with them.   
He unhooked the scabbard from his side and held his sword ready, still sheathed. He heard footsteps coming from the expected direction. Not...human footsteps. More like a beast. Rhythmic, in a set. Quadrupedal. He braved a peek. The hunter was still in the same spot, clutching a claw in his hand, but otherwise pressed completely against the tree. Aatami nearly chuckled. The elf's skin and clothes were almost the same colour as the bark of the tree, making him nearly invisible in that spot. It took him until now to realize that. He peeked further.   
There.   
Between trees there were four riders. Not human riders. Not...mortal riders. Black, nearly transparent figures on top of ghostly resemblances of horses. Another creature of legends. Riders of black coming to sow death in the fields. He even saw them when he was small. Ghostly figures that came to a village, poisoned the water, salted the earth. Killed the weak before a long winter.  
These were close. Maybe a dozen steps. Maybe less. They were walking across their own path. The hunter's face slowly turned towards Aatami and nodded.   
He got the hint. In one swift motion he took out his sword and emerged from behind the tree with a yell. Instantly as one the figures turned their ghostly steeds towards him and broke into a trot. Just as fast, two elves appeared from the tops of the trees, toppling the front two of the shadowy riders from their mounts. The second pair jumped over them as if it was a natural obstruction. The hunter and another elf appeared from behind their trees, stabbing into the sides of the horses and legs of the riders. One of them turned around, the other continued.

Time slowed down for Aatami. He noticed how the ground where the beasts stepped was freezing over. How the colour of the leaves was draining away. How the hunter's hand holding the claw being stabbed into the side of the horse was beginning to wither. The rider raised a sword ready to attack ever so slowly. Aatami raised his steel to parry the attack. Cold spread through his hands as the blades met. He felt powerless. He dodged as the horse parried and attempted a sideways slice as he planned from the start, but only managed to stumble and not trip over his own legs.   
The horse circled and faced Aatami. He looked up into the place where eyes of the rider should be and he thought he saw a sliver of intelligence. And then the arm raised again. Aatami quickly shook himself and steeled his arm to parry another blow. The blades met, cold spread through his arms again.   
But this time the horse stopped and the rider went for another quick attack. Aatami felt himself dying even before the blade had time to hit him. But then it didn't.   
An elven figure appeared from the other side of the horse, throwing the rider's balance away as the horse swayed, forcing him to hit a tree next to Aatami. The tree paled and croaked. Moments later it toppled into a space between the other trees and broke into splinters.   
Aatami finally gathered himself and thrust his sword into the unguarded leg clutching the horse's side. Both the beast and the rider let out a terrifying howl and jumped into a fast trot, disappearing in the forest.  
The knight shook his head looking after it and finally glanced around. The others were still fighting. On the ground, running, blocking, surviving. Their hits didn't seem to do much against the riders, the best they could do was wrestle with them, but that still left them seemingly withered and older. He noticed the elf woman strangling one of the riders with a wine while another elf repeatedly stabbed the rider in the chest, but there was no response.   
Aatami walked in closer, pushed the elf away gently and stabbed the creature straight in the chest. The blade easily dove in. Same toe curling scream followed and somehow the rider got rid of the woman and her wine and went on his way into the depths of the woods. The human took out his dagger and handed it to the elf, pointing at one of the remaining riders, while he himself turned to the last one.   
That one was standing on top of a body, stabbing it again and again with its sword. The body was fading away, rotting and turning into dirt before the very eyes. Aatami hoped to get a drop on the creature, coming up from behind it. He made a stab with his sword aimed at the center of its back, but surprisingly the creature spun and stroke his sword away. Coldness enveloped his arm again, but this time he was ready. Quickly he reached out with his other arm and grabbed the other one's sword-arm. Deathly chill gripped his hand but he held firmly. He made a swing with his sword aimed at the shade's head, but the shade managed to free its arm. It blocked the swing as if it was nothing and made another swing at him.   
Aatami backed out of range quickly, circling around the creature. No matter how many times he tried and was prepared, the cold stiffness took the strength out of his body and he couldn't continue attacking. He was taught an art of combat with a sword and it was now useless. Several more times he tried making a swing, having it blocked and just barely getting away before the shade stroke back against him. His only luck was that the shade lacked any interest in striking back quickly. There was a cold assurance in its stride and movement. As if knowing that even if it didn't try to strike back it would take somehow take him anyways.   
In some ways that thought made Aatami unnerved.  
But in other ways it made him try to fight back that much stronger.  
Out of reach and slowly backing out, he heard the third shade howl in terror and take off into the forest. All the remaining elves gathered around and watched Aatami. They didn't help him. Perhaps they read his mind or saw it in his face, but he wanted to take this one alone. He wanted to win against it using the sheer power of his wit and strength of his body to defeat this otherworldly shadow.   
The shade followed him slowly. It didn't look at the elves, it didn't go out of its way to deal with them. It just followed. Another series of attacks and parries. Another hit into a tree by the shadow and the tree again toppled.   
As the trunk exploded into a million wooden bits Aatami got an idea. He pulled a couple paces away from the shade and then faced him directly. Next he charged, holding his sword near the ground, ready for an upwards swing. A move he would never do against a normal opponent. He got close and swung up. As expected the shade blocked the hit and the familiar stiffness followed. The sword got deflected into the air above the shade. His arms got weak. The sword was heavy. By the sheer weight and Aatami's determination to keep holding it firmly it swung down, landing directly on the shade's head, splitting it down the middle and taking it off. There was no howl from the final shade. Only a thud as the rest of its shadowy body fell into the leaves and stayed there.   
Slowly the shadows of the body pulled apart, disappearing in the forest's mist. The woods seemed younger, more livable afterwards. 

Aatami looked up and noticed the elves gathering around several spots on the ground. Specifically at places with small piles of fresh dirt on them. The places where they fellows have fallen. Aatami counted six of them.   
They didn't mourn. At least it didn't seem to him that way.   
Instead they gathered around and the elf woman produced an acorn from somewhere and placed it into middle of the pile, burying it in the fresh dirt.


	3. Reuniting

Travelling with the elves has taught Aatami several things. As soon as the first snows have fallen, he had noticed that the elves are avoiding stepping in the snow if they could avoid it easily. They'd go around or climb trees. If they absolutely had to step into them, they'd tie a fur around their waist, walk in a line and drag it behind themselves. This way their steps would get completely covered and none would be the wiser about what came through the snow or how many of them were there. They even waited for Aatami to cross before them and cover his tracks afterwards.   
He also noticed that they had dedicated roles in the group. The fast muscular elf would be the hunter, several of the lanky elves were gatherers and foragers, the woman was acting as their priest - of sorts. There were several that Aatami didn't see many times or often who constantly climbed trees or traveled ahead of them, searching for a good path or avoiding dangerous or exposed areas.  
All of them, except the scouts, were carrying satchels made from fur and animal insides. Some of those were stitched, but most were only lightly tied and slowly falling apart. Fairly obviously, their arts and crafts ended at producing claws and sharpening rocks.

As they walked, he often fell nearby the priest and she would point out things for him to notice: A bark on a tree overgrown with moss that could be foraged, a bug nest buried in the remains of an old tree hiding honey, grassy leaves hiding under fresh piles of snow which could be squeezed to release a surprisingly sweet nectar that was also good for preserving foods. Sometimes they would talk.   
On one of those occasions he asked her about their previous encounter.   
"What were those shades?" he asked after two days of avoiding the question.  
She frowned and searched for words "They...warriors. Coming from... past."  
"Who's past?" he implored  
"Ours." she said and made a circling sign around her and the other elves. And Aatami.   
"Ours? Mine as well?" he asked to confirm. He was very surprised by this, because he didn't expect their past to be connected. They seemed too simple to have any reasonable history at all.  
She nodded "You learn. We teach." she said and then continued some more "You leave forest. Become men."  
He could see that she had more on her mind so he stayed quiet and processed what she said.   
"Evil things come. You defend forest. We..." she hesitated. For the first time he thought that this happened not because of lack of vocabulary "We run and hide."   
Aatami noticed that several more of the elves have gotten close, even two of the scouts. They were close and listening in. He wasn't sure why that was.   
"We hide. Long time pass. Many man dead. Many evil things dead. But some stay." She sighed. "Man mad. We sorry. Man not so mad. Evil things use dead man now. Attack forest. We defend." She said and hit her fist against her chest. Other elves do the same and attempt to repeat the words, or rather the sounds of them, in a sort of a chant.   
"So these shades are the spirits of the human defenders of the long past ages?" he couldn't wrap his head around it. He never heard such stories. Sure, he heard legends about monsters and demons, but those were myths and none of those mentioned the elves at all.   
She nodded again "Dead mad man." she corrected.  
He understood. Some men did take their anger beyond the grave. But one last question remained in his mind.  
"How do you know all this?" he knew they wouldn't know books or any written language for that matter. They couldn't keep it all written down. And if it happened that long ago, it couldn't be a word of mouth either.  
"The forest remember." she said and spread her arms above her head "I listen."

~~~

At last they made it to civilization. Small village of Mikkeli awaited them just at the edge of the woods according to a signpost found near a road running through the forest.  
However something felt off to Aatami. He didn't know what it was. The priestess kept watching him and the other elves, the ones that have shown themselves: the hunter and one of the gatherers, were scanning the woods around them. He thought it could be the proximity to a human settlement. He had never asked the priestess how close they'd usually get near humans and their villages, but he assumed not too close.   
And then there was the prospect of him leaving them. Maybe they were just anxious to have him off their backs finally.

They emerged from the woods onto a forest road. But as Aatami peeked out from the woods, a dire sight has awaited him. The woods on the other side of the road were sparse. And dead. Like the trees touched by the shades. The trees pale and hollow. Leaves gone, grass white and withering.   
Through the woods he could see first houses. Their roofs broken in, walls collapsed.  
He wanted to run there, look for survivors but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.  
Almost he pushed it off and ran anyway but he noticed the concern on the priestess's face. She signed sideways towards the others. They were circling around the village through the healthy woods. No doubt to find a better view.  
Aatami was suddenly aware of the issue. Whatever caused all this could still be nearby. Running in directly probably wasn't the safest approach.  
He nodded and followed the hunter. Dimly he was aware of more elves in the tree branches above, standing watch or moving with them.

When they were almost half a circle around the village, they got a view of it whole. Every single house was broken in. At first sight it was obvious. An entry point and an exit point. Rocks going inside from one, rocks going out from the other. Roofs collapsed where the holes were too big. No blood present and no bodies, but apparent signs of struggle: weapons and farm equipment scattered around, broken in some cases.  
And then Aatami noticed the boards and cut stones all over the place, coming from what seemed like the center of the village. A place where usually a shrine to some god or another would be standing. There was none, only ruin. And near it six riders atop black steeds. The shades.

The elves waited for him. They didn't move or seem impatient, although they did pull out their weapons.  
They as well as he knew they were mostly useless. From the last encounter he figured that steel is a material that has an effect on the shades rather than the stones. He thought.  
Then he thought some more. He pulled away from the edge of the woods and guided the elves deeper, keeping an eye out. He was idly swinging his sword while thinking.   
"We can't face them like last time" he finally said when they stopped. He had no idea if they understood, but they were all facing him. "Clearly they aren't afraid of fighting us, but your weapons are also useless against them." He went on some more. "And we can't afford to keep losing lives against them if we are to get somewhere."  
They seemed to understand what he was saying but they kept silent, still watching him. 'If only they understood nodding' he thought and a smile found a way to his face.   
"So then..." he said and pulled out a dagger he was wearing on his belt and gave it to the hunter. Then he took a knife he used for cutting twigs and bread and whatnot and gave it to another of the elves, one of the gatherers. If they had bow and arrows, it would all be way easier, but they didn't and Aatami wasn't quite sure they'd be able to use them without extensive training. As far as he noticed, they only used very simple weapons, which is why he was going to keep the sword on him.  
"The rest of you..." he wanted to tell them they can't fight. That their weapons are useless and therefore they will be useless as well. "Keep safe...try to stay out of reach when they attack, but mostly stay away. Please" he finally said, unable to get himself to stop them from fighting. He knew they'd ignore that anyways.

 

~~~

They prepared themselves. The hunter and one of the gatherers, Aatami started referring to him as the tracker, climbed onto low branches of trees in a deeper part of the woods. The others stayed way higher, beyond where Aatami could see them. He himself would attract the riders and lead them into the deep woods where hopefully they'd be limited enough in their movement and beatable without anybody dying. The elves did recognize it as a good plan but they, especially the hunter, disagreed with him playing the bait. His argument was that he was slow. And he was. But unlike them, he could keep the riders at a distance even though they were on horseback with the sword. He tried explaining this but the hunter wouldn't listen.  
In the end, Aatami had to make a fool out of himself and attempt to climb a tree to show why he had to be a bait. He couldn't hide, he couldn't climb. He'd give it away. The elves were amused by this and let him carry on with his plan.

He approached the edge of the wood again. They were patrolling around the village, looking into the woods, delving in and coming out again. As if searching for the elves. Could it be they knew they were around? Maybe it was best Aatami went to lure them. They wouldn't expect the elves and their methods.  
He ran out towards the nearest building. He didn't dare entering it. He stalked through the streets, running from wall to wall, keeping a watch over the riders.   
When walking past a building with a fence around it and a forge inside, he noticed something gleaming in the light. A blade. Checking the riders, he went inside to grab it. A short sword, barely more than a dagger, but a sword nonetheless. It was clearly very new, no scratches on the plain handle. He stuck it through a belt on his clothes and came out again. He looked towards the woods. The riders were gone.  
Quickly he scrambled away, towards the woods where he came in from.   
Then he heard them. Hoofbeats on his right and his left. They knew. He didn't dare look and kept running.  
Seconds later he was through the woodline and in his wake he heard the horses bust in as well.   
He dived to the side, hoping they wouldn't turn around as quickly.   
And he was right. They circled around trees and were coming at him again, but then he turned sides again, running back into the woods again, the wraiths following him.   
His eyes shot up. He didn't see the elves. He saw a branch move here, a leaf fall down there. They were there, watching.  
Just a few more clearings. The horses were upon him again.   
Duck to the side, wait for them to pass, circle around a tree.   
Dive again.   
The shades got used to it. They slowed down, following him. But the trees were getting more and more dense. Aatami could duck between trees where the horses couldn't follow. He could run and turn at a moment's notice. The beasts couldn't.  
One more turn and he passed a familiar tree. 

He stopped and turned around, raising his sword finally, dropping the other one to the ground.  
The shades were confused. They circled around him, trying to find somebody, anybody. One of them slowly approached him straight on. He passed the tree.   
And eyes on the tree opened. The hunter dropped directly on top of the rider, plunging the dagger he carried deep into the rider's neck. A scream followed.  
And then they all charged Aatami at once.  
Second elf dropped and stopped one of the riders.   
Aatami blocked one hit, then another and dropped to his knees. He saw two more riders coming from cross directions and instantly tumbled under the hooves of one of the horses trying to get away of range of their blades.   
He got kicked as the beast fell over him. He felt chill spread from his back where the hooves hit him.

Aatami rolled away, seeing a blade coming for him from the rider of the fallen horse. Aatami didn't understand how the shadow got on his feet so quickly, but he did.  
He jumped up on his feet and checked around. The other riders were circling around and he had a couple of seconds before they came back in.   
He didn't waste time.   
He rushed forward smashing his sword against the shade's, not caring for the cold in his limb as he did so. Right after he got a hold on the shade's arm with his own. He felt as if his arm will freeze off.   
With the sword locked away the shade could do nothing to stop Aatami's own sword from chopping of his head. There was no scream as the body disappeared into wind.  
Moments later he heard beats on the ground and he ducked.   
Too late.  
A shadow sword's tip nicked his arm.   
He turned and saw another blade incoming. Struck by fear suddenly, he was unable to dodge.  
But then an elven figure dropped onto the rider, scratching, screaming, stabbing. And then jumped off right after and dashed into the trees again. Distraction enough so that the blade missed him.   
He looked around and saw the hunter dueling one of the riders, using the dagger with both hands to protect himself from the shade's blade.   
Aatami felt a surge of courage and forced himself up on his feet again, stalking towards the rider from the back, stabbing him right through.   
In the corner of his eye he saw a rider coming. Faster than he expected, his sword was free and he parried the attack, slashing at the shade's side. Didn't get him. But the tracker did right after the shade disappeared behind trees.  
One remaining, Aatami realized. He turned and saw the rider trying to get away. There was no catching him. Aatami dropped to the ground for the blade he left there and tossed it, not hoping in much.   
It hit and the rider fell of the beast he was riding.   
It didn't die and started crawling away with a blade sticking out of its back. 

Aatami rushed to it, though there was an elf on the place already.   
He waited for Aatami, holding the shade down with his foot. The foot visibly turning blue in the process.   
Aatami took over, pushing his heel down on the creature's back and raised his sword.  
He stabbed downwards. A scream followed. And the whole forest suddenly seemed more alive than before.


End file.
